MOSUL: A ferry overloaded with people celebrating the Kurdish new year and Mother’s Day capsized in the Tigris River near the Iraqi city of Mosul on Thursday, killing at least 75 people, including families, officials said.

Many of the dead were women and children who could be seen struggling to swim against a strong current, their heads bobbing in the water opposite restaurants and an amusement park where people had been celebrating minutes earlier.

The death toll from the accident, which residents said was the worst in recent memory, was expected to rise as people waited on the banks of the Tigris for news of loved ones.

Col. Hussam Khalil, head of the Civil Defence in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, said the accident occurred as scores of people were out in the tourist area, known as Ghabat, celebrating Nowruz, which marks the Kurdish new year and the arrival of spring.

Abdulrazzaq Falih, a rescuer with the river police of Mosul, said he pulled more than 20 bodies from the water.

“Children, women, and young, what can I tell you? It was a difficult situation,” he said.

A man who identified himself as Abdul-Jabbar al-Jbouri appealed for the police to look for his wife and children. “My wife and three daughters are in the water!” he screamed.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Saad Maan said 75 people died, adding that 55 have been rescued, including 19 children.

Mosul was devastated by the war against the militant Islamic State group, which occupied the city for three years. Iraqi forces drove the militants from Mosul in 2017 after a grueling campaign that left entire neighbourhoods in ruins, and residents are still struggling to rebuild.

Videos of the ferry disaster posted online showed people struggling against the strong current. The usually tame Tigris is running high this time of year, fed by snowmelt from mountains in Turkey. The river swelled further after a rainy season that brought more precipitation than in previous years.

Falah al-Taii, director of Nineveh health department, said the number of victims that arrived at the forensic department and in the hospitals in Mosul is more than 60, the majority of them women and children.

“There is a large number of fathers and mothers who are looking for their children until now,” he added.

Khalil said the ferry sank because of a technical problem, and that there weren’t many boats in the area to rescue people. He said more than 80 people were on the ferry when it sank.

Saudi Aziz, a 23-year-old Kurd, said he was on another ferry crossing the river. He said the stricken ferry was overloaded with around 150 people when it capsized. He said it wasn’t long before he saw people drowning, their heads bobbing up and “sliding away across the water like plastic bags.” He said he jumped in the water and managed to save a 20-year-old girl.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2019